All in the Family: BWH’s 33rd Annual Employee Service Awards

During last week's Employee Service Awards ceremony, the concept of the ‘Brigham family' took on new meaning. In addition to being home to high-quality, patient- and family-centered care, as well as innovative research, BWH has also been responsible for some great match-making.

Take Charles David Healy, of Diagnostic Radiology, who is celebrating 45 years of service this year. Healy met his wife at the Peter Bent Brigham more than 40 years ago. Ralph Todesco, of the Division of Sleep Medicine, another 45-year BWHer, also met his wife at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, a BWH predecessor institution.

And then there's the Autori family. Staff nurse and 35-year BWHer Paula Autori, RN; her husband Tony Autori, executive director of Finance and Accounting; and their children, Thomas and Sara, have a combined 75-plus years of service for BWH.

These are some of the more than 1,800 BWHers who were honored during the 33rd annual Employee Service Awards, held in the Cabot Atrium on June 6 amid cheers from colleagues and staff. The annual event honored BWH employees for their years of service to the institution in increments of five years, from five to 45 years of service.

"Each one of you has made your life remarkable by giving so much to each other, to BWH and to our patients," said Julie Celano, vice president of Human Resources. "For that, we are deeply grateful and honor all of your inspirational work."

During the event, hospital leaders kicked off the award presentations by taking the audience on a trip down memory lane by recounting milestones and events that occurred at each five-year interval and even dancing along to snippets of popular songs from those years. Employees celebrating 20 or more years of service were acknowledged and welcomed to pose for a picture with BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD.

This year's honorees cheer for each other at the 33rd annual Employee Service Awards ceremony.